The present invention relates to a method of connecting a support rope and net meshes of a drift gill net and a fixed net for fishing. By a drift gill net is meant the type of gill net which captures fish by taking advantage of driftage.
As is well known, a fishing net, for instance, a fixed net as shown in FIG. 10, depends from the sea surface until it is expanded in the sea as required. When counter boring moment, which is a kind of pressure generated by waves on the surface of the sea, or other forces are intensively exerted on the fishing net, there is a possibility that the cords constituting the support rope will be torn off and thereby the whole fishing net will fall to the bottom of the sea. Furthermore, there is a necessity for making the connection of the fishing net to the support rope having a large diameter at certain predetermined intervals as seen in the longitudinal direction of the support rope, when the fishing net expansion operation is performed.
With the foregoing background in mind the following requirements have been specified by many fishing net users in many countries over the world:
1. There is a need for improvement relative to the assembly and disassembly operations of a fishing net,
2. There is a need for a connection between the support rope and the fishing net without tying the two together and at the same time avoiding a tearing off of the fishing net from the support rope,
3. There is a need for minimizing the area where the net expansion operation is performed and of the time required for carrying out the expansion of the net.
To facilitate understanding of the other disadvantageous feature of the conventional net expansion method, FIG. 10 illustrates a typical conventional method where an intermediate rope R' is connected to a main rope R, provided with floats in the spaced relation, with the use of connecting ropes interposed therebetween. A fishing net is then connected to the intermediate rope R' by means of another connecting rope R" having an elliptical or half-elliptical shape as seen from the side, with a number of binding knots formed along the upper edge of the fishing net. The above-noted connecting ropes R" are called zig-zag ropes.
However, the above-described structure of the conventional fishing net using so-called zig-zag ropes leads to a result that it cannot be manufactured in an inexpensive cost. This is also true in the case of a drift gill net (not shown) which does not require a main rope R. Thus, the conventional drift gill net also cannot be manufactured inexpensively.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved method of connecting a fishing net which is entirely free from the drawbacks inherent to the conventional methods as mentioned above.